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Video Poker Rules and Tips

Video Poker has been around for almost 3 decades. When Video Poker and Slots concepts were combined by Walt Fraley in 1975, the Video Poker phenomenon was born. In 1979, IGT introduced the first Draw Poker video game. It was a huge success and laid the foundation for the Video Slots version of Video Poker. Today, Video Poker is one of the ten most played games in the casino.

Playing Video Poker is easy and, if you know how to play Poker and Slots, then you already have an advantage. The object is to make the best hand from the five cards that are dealt to you. You do this by holding cards that can assist you in making a winning hand and replacing those that will not benefit you. Popular Video Poker games include Jacks or Better, Jokers Wild, and Deuces Wild. The concept is pretty much the same with each of the variations. The only difference lies in the video poker hand ranks and their payoffs.

Hand Ranks include the following:

Royal Flush - 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace all in the same suit.

Straight Flush - all cards in the same suit and in sequence. An example of a Straight Flush would be 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, with all being hearts.

Four of a Kind - four cards of the same rank. An example of this would be 3, 3, 3, 3, 8.

Full House - three cards of the same rank; two cards of another rank; e.g. 4, 4, 4, J, J.

Straight - five cards not of the same suit but all in sequence; e.g. 7, 8, 9, 10, J in random suits.

Flush - five cards all in the same suit but not in sequence; e.g. 7, 8, 9, 10, J with all being in the spades suit.

Three of a Kind - three cards of the same rank and two unrelated cards; e.g. A, A, A, 5, J.

Two Pair - two cards of one rank, two cards of another completely different rank, and a fifth unrelated card; e.g. 5, 5, 9, 9, Q. The Queen is called a Kicker in this case.

One Pair - two cards of one rank and three unrelated cards; e.g. K, K, 2, 8, 9.

In some Video Poker games, you can actually get a special hand called Five of a Kind. This happens in games where a Wild card is used. The Wild Card substitutes for any card you wish. So, if you have a hand of 3, 4, 5, 6, and 9 all in the clubs suit and wish to make a Straight Flush, you could substitute the 9 for a 7 to complete your winning hand.